Terms of Engagement
by Superficial Faith
Summary: Integra discusses the reasons behind her husband's non-monogamy.


"He's out tonight, Seras," Integra stated when she heard the office door creaking open. She was staring out the large window behind her desk, watching the men drill underneath the moonlight. There was a cigar smoldering between her fingers, sending white tendrils of smoke curling into the air.

"Ah, I noticed," the vampire replied, shyly stepping into the room, her hands behind her back. "But where—"

Integra cut her off, her tone matter of fact and to the point.

"To that woman he's been seeing for the past couple of weeks. I don't care enough to remember her name."

She took a long drag off her cigar before exhaling, turning around to look at the police girl, shock registering in the other woman's features.

"I'm…sorry?" Her eyes were wide, disbelieving.

"Sex, Seras. He's having sex with another woman right now."

Red dotted the corners of the vampire's eyes, pinpricks of tears forming there—visibly upset by the news—and Integra could tell that the idea of the girl's master sleeping with another woman deeply cut at her.

"But…but aren't you two…"

Integra let out a sigh and stubbed out the half-finished cigar into the ashtray at her desk, the thin silver band adorning the ring finger of her left hand glinting in the lowlight—a gift from Alucard. There had been no formal ceremony, no celebration, just a few pieces of paperwork filed and locked away. She cared nothing for the piece of jewelry, really, as it held no special meaning to her other than the fact that she was morally and legally bound to another person and that she was not interested in seeing anyone else.

Already, she could see where the conversation was heading.

"Married, yes," the woman finished for her. "Sit down, Seras."

The vampire's legs seemed unsteady as she pulled up a chair across from the large desk in front of her. Already, Integra pitied her for the poor, romantic fool.

"Are you and master having…" she paused, struggling for the right words. "…issues, Sir?"

Integra sat down across from her, elbows leaning on its surface, hands steepled in front of her.

"No."

"Then why—?"

"Because that's Alucard," Integra stated flatly. "He is easily excitable and wishes to have whatever strikes his fancy at the time. I did not enter our romantic partnership thinking he'd remain monogamous."

Seras chewed on the inside of her cheek, still trying to process this new perspective of both her masters' relationship.

"But doesn't that make you jealous?"

Integra gave a barely perceptible shrug.

"Not particularly. I'm secure enough in where I stand in my relationship with him that the concept of other people in his life doesn't threaten me. I give him attentions most of his lovers cannot or would not be willing to do. I am his wife and master, first and foremost."

Alucard taunted her about it sometimes, trying to bait her with the erotic details of his most recent escapade, but she remained aloof, not rattled by her vampire's sexual preferences in the slightest. She had no delusions should she ask him to stop, he would, simply by virtue of his position underneath her.

But she had no need to exert that power over him, and didn't really care to. Already, she had seen so much in her twenty-two years that the prospect of other lovers shagging her husband didn't seem to amount to much in the grand scheme of things.

"And that doesn't affect your current relationship?"

"I believe denying him would affect us more," Integra replied. "You forget Alucard is vampirism personified to its highest point. As satisfying as our sessions together are, I am only human. He has desires of domination that I do not wish to enact with him, and even when he is playing the submissive, there is only so long I can keep up with his libido throughout the week. Allowing him multiple partners keeps him from growing bored and allows me some respite from my more, shall we say, 'wifely duties.' I doubt I'd be able to move from my bed for a number of weeks if I even attempted satiating him every time he was in the mood."

The vampire across from her flushed a bright red, as if embarrassed to hear the finer details of her masters' private lives.

"So he just goes to other women whenever he fancies himself a shag?" The words seemed to tumble forth from her mouth before she could stop them, and then, as if realizing her error, she hastily tacked on, "Oh God, I'm sorry. That was bloody rude of me."

Integra chuckled.

"No, no, it's quite alright, Seras. Discussing my sex life isn't anything for me to be ashamed of. I have a fulfilling one, and I have no qualms stating it." She fiddled with the ring on her hand, turning it on her finger absentmindedly. "But no, sometimes it's men, and Alucard's well-versed enough in this game that he runs it by me first. And there _are_ rules."

"Rules?"

"Of course. You don't think I'd let him sleep with just anyone without limitations, do you?" She leveled a caustic gaze at the young woman. "He can't pursue anyone in or related to the organization, he has to tell them he's married, obey English law, no blood, no vampirism, and no ravishing virgins on their first time. It wouldn't do well for the poor sod to think there's no such thing as good sex when the relationship runs its course, after all." A pause. "If he wants to bring someone home, he has to introduce me to them and we'll make a decision from there. I won't sleep with another man. There's too much risk involved."

She'd seen Alucard change and shift forms between various weeks as he left the house some evenings, sometimes male, sometimes female. Long and thin, or well-built with knotted cords of muscle, depending on that particular lover's preference. Once, she saw him slink out in the form of a very familiar black, shaggy dog.

Never, though, had he walked out as she knew him. She never asked why, and didn't care to, but she had the sneaking suspicion the form she had known for ten years was for her and for her eyes alone.

"Has he?"

Integra arched an eyebrow.

"Has he what?"

"Brought anyone home?"

An upward quirk of the lips.

"No." She noticed Seras' internal conflict with another question blossoming on the tip of her tongue, so she continued, relieving her of the task of asking. "He has no desire to, I believe. He has had multiple brides and long-standing lovers at once over the years and has made mention that it is a pain to deal with their constant infighting and jealousy. They are very short-term affairs for him, in general. A fling, if you will."

The vampire continued to worry at her lip.

"But aren't you worried about, you know, STDs?"

Integra struggled to keep her expression neutral, but failed, her eyes sparkling with amused merriment.

"You still think like a human, Seras. Having sex with Alucard is like having sex with a man with a built-in condom. I stand no chance of pregnancy, and anything he might pick up and bring home is killed by his blood." She shrugged. "Another benefit of your husband being dead, I suppose. Saves a bloody fortune on medication and contraceptives, in all honesty."

"But what about you?"

Integra rose from her desk and walked over to the wine table tucked in the far corner of the room, delicately picking up a long-stemmed wine glass and pouring herself a generous portion.

"What about me?" She swirled the liquid around in the bowl absently.

Seras shifted in her seat.

"Can you see other people?"

She took a sip of the Bordeaux before eyeing the other woman over the lip of the glass.

"Of course. Alucard has placed no restrictions on me."

"Have you?"

"Slept with others?" Integra shook her head. "No. I have neither the time nor inclination, and even though he will not admit it, Alucard is a very jealous creature where I am involved." A pause. "I had the chance to play the dominant with an old acquaintance of mine, and Alucard very nearly hunted him down when I made mention of it."

The vampire had sulked for a week after she had denied him his intended quarry, whining at her feet liked a spurned pet, even though she had assured him that she had had no interest in pursuing such an opportunity anyways.

"Why do you think I never had any boyfriends in my teen years? He's very possessive."

"And nothing about this set-up bothers you?"

Integra hummed lowly, thinking, before she wrinkled her nose.

"I sometimes don't like the way he smells when he comes home. Too much bloody perfume and not enough of him."

The temperature suddenly dropped a couple of degrees, and a dark, rich chuckle echoed throughout the room. Both human and vampire turned to look at where a red hat and pair of gloves began emerging from the wall.

"So my master prefers the smell of gunpowder and death as opposed to common human fancies?" He emerged fully into view, a fanged smile and the metal of a matching wedding band catching in the moonlight. "I'm flattered, Integra."

She looked over at him from the side of her eye.

"Alucard."

He brushed the long hair from her neck and placed a brief kiss over her pulse point, and Seras seemed to visibly relax, relieved that her master's affection for his wife had not apparently waned, showing Integra's words to ring true.

"I trust you had a good time?"

She looked pointedly at the red bruise at the side of her servant's neck where another person's lips had sucked on the skin there. Integra was under no delusions that he had purposely kept it there to mock her.

"Mmm, yes, but she doesn't quite satisfy me like someone else I know." His eyes burned like hot coals, and his hand tugged her dress shirt out of the waistband, gloved fingers touching the bare skin of her stomach, and she wrapped an arm around the back of his head, pulling him down by a handful of inky black hair to meet her lips, harsh and biting.

"Christ, you're insatiable," she whispered huskily as she pulled away, catching the tip of his tongue between her teeth.

"Well then, I'll just chivvy along and see if Walter needs some help with the tea then, shall I?" Seras said awkwardly, rising from her chair and edging towards the door.

Alucard looked up at her through hooded eyes, a manic grin spreading across his lips.

"Oh ho, so you won't be joining us in bed tonight, Police Girl?"

Seras had never shot out of a room so fast, her master's mocking laughter ringing in her ears.

* * *

><p><strong>Author's Note: I've had an idea brewing for a fic exploring polyamory for a while bouncing around in my head for various fandoms, and <em>Hellsing<em> is the one where it stuck. **

**This was spawned from a discussion with Hurricaneislandheart about the usually inaccurate trope of polyamory in fanfic, where this type of relationship is used as a plot device to spur jealousy in other characters or to give the author the excuse to use their favorite characters as the fandom bicycle. I wanted to write a fic that negated both of those concepts, and instead have the relationship portrayed as something between consenting, knowledgable, responsible adults, and something that was agreed upon beforehand.**


End file.
